Women’s talk, mothers’ work: Korean mothers’ address terms, solidarity, and power

Abstract

This study analyzes 400 minutes of natural conversations between Korean married women and investigates their interactions with focus on their use of address terms to index closeness. In particular, it examines the emergence of the female solidarity term caki ‘you’, and demonstrates solidarity’s entailment of power. Traditionally, Korean women with children have been addressed by reference to their children’s names (e.g. ‘Ken’s mom’) even by her friends. Caki, which allows friends to directly address each other, has become a popular alternative, indicating solidarity. In addition, contrary to their traditional dismissal as gossip, Korean mothers’ conversations and networks have become a socially recognized form of power, called the ‘Married Women’s Network’, for sharing valuable information, particularly on children’s education. Therefore, women’s use of the solidarity term caki may also be motivated by a power factor to stay integrated in the mothers’ network, demonstrating Tannen’s ‘paradox of power and solidarity’.